Protesters briefly shut down 110 Freeway after release of Ezell Ford’s autopsy

Protesters angry about the death of Ezell Ford and other recent police shootings rushed onto the 110 Freeway at one point Monday night, briefly stopping traffic.

At first, three people holding hands walked into the southbound lanes from an on-ramp at Gage Avenue. Then a group of 30 or so others followed. They linked hands and formed a line blocking traffic.

Tires screeched and traffic began to back up. Protesters chanted and held signs reading, “We R One Rise Unite,” and “A GUN MUZZLE IMPRINT IN EZELL’S BACK?”

At one point, an angry motorist got out of her car and screamed at the protesters to get off the freeway.

Officer Francisco Villalobos, a CHP spokesman, said the protesters dispersed after officers responded. He said the closure, which occurred about 8:15 p.m., lasted only a few minutes.

Small protests cropped up around Los Angeles on Monday after the release of Ford’s autopsy, which shows he was shot three times -- once in the right side, once in the right side of his back and once in the right arm.

The gunshot wound on his back showed the surrounding skin had a “muzzle imprint,” according to the autopsy, suggesting the shot was made at very close range. The autopsy said the back and side gunshot wounds were fatal.

Last month, protesters in L.A. caused repeated freeway, road and rail closures following a Missouri grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer in the shooting death of a black teenager.

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